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Where did the starlings go?

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I have a small apple tree (about 6ft). Got 2 goldfinches living in it, never seen one before, beautiful! Not seen them using the feeders but then the sparrows soon empty those. Any ideas what goldfinch like to eat?

 

We've had them on the birdfeeder in the garden - but from memory there favourite is teasel -

 

https://www.crocus.co.uk/plants/_/dipsacus-fullonum/classid.1000000968/

 

there used to be flocks of goldies near my parents house in South Wales where a lot of teasel grew wild.

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I have a small apple tree (about 6ft). Got 2 goldfinches living in it, never seen one before, beautiful! Not seen them using the feeders but then the sparrows soon empty those. Any ideas what goldfinch like to eat?

 

Sunflower hearts - we've got a "charm" of goldfinches who , certainly through winter, were going through a feeders worth in a day.

 

Money well spent!

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Was a feature on Look North tonight about some research at York Uni.

Apparently a lot of the medicines we humans take is ending up at sewage works and in the rivers. Said starlings like to eat the worms at sewage works in great numbers but the worms have been found to contain anti-depressants and this, coupled with other pressures as mentioned above, is contributing to the rapid decline. I suppose the worms must be happy!

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I think you are right. I remember driving on the Motorways in the late 70s and cleaning my car windscreen at service stations because of the insects.

Never given it much though until you have mentioned it. Driving back and forwards to Sheffield and Newcastle at the moment, I can’t remember the last time I had to do this.

 

Although there has undoubtedly been a decline in insects, remember that cars are much more streamlined these days as well and this means far fewer insects hit the windscreen and get stuck... If I drive my BMW there's hardly any on there - but in my classic Ladrover I still pick up enough to need cleaning on a long journey.

 

One thing I don't miss are the huge swarms of greenfly and aphids - I think it was 1979 that we had them? I recall my father having to stop, I say stop we were forced to stop and stripping the air filter out to clean it of heaving masses of aphids that you could scoop out of the filter box in handfuls... Not had any swarms like that for a long time...

 

---------- Post added 13-06-2018 at 09:50 ----------

 

Sunflower hearts - we've got a "charm" of goldfinches who , certainly through winter, were going through a feeders worth in a day.

 

Money well spent!

 

The guy next door here likes them he has a Niger feeder I think he called it. Small small seeds like dust almost inside it they go nuts for the stuff and sparrows seem to ignore it.

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Sounded like a lot of activity in the garden this morning (6:30). Looked out of the window and was amazed at the number of bluetits. We have a quick growing bush, a spindly long narrow leaf thing with purple flowers like little bunches of grapes, the bluetits were all over them. They were also pecking the house walls, at one bit there was one inches away from me pecking at the edge of the window frame.

There must have been about a dozen coming and going.

Goldfinches have disappeared though and never touched the sunflower hearts i put in a feeder.

Got a few starlings and loads of hedge sparrows (Hawthorn).

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I remember the huge flocks of Starlings when they were off to warmer places, there were so many the sky was dark it was so eerie, I have not seen that for a very long time, I never noticed the lack of Starlings until I read this, how sad :(

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Was in Manchester at weekend. The Asda car park near the Trafford Centre was full of them. A long time since I have seen so many. I guess climate change is having an impact.

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Nowadays there seems to be more magpies than ever they seem to be doing well not sure why,at one time you would see lots of thrushes but I have not seen any for years maybe Maggie have eaten them

Magpies are a pest, along with Crows and Wood Pigeons they have taken over Gleadless Valley completely, you do get song birds in the woods nearby but I never see any on my feeders which I put out on my balcony, which I've now stopped. Thirty years ago I used to get a huge variety of song birds, no Magpies, Crows or Wood Pigeons.

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